Trolley Rides
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on November 20, 2017 1:31 PM
Full Size
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Terry Hogg and Ervin Wood give trolley rides last year in Goldsboro.
Full Size
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Terry Hogg shaves the ears of Joe, one of her Percheron horses she uses for the trolley and wagon rides in Goldsboro.
Full Size
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Terry Hogg puts a bridle on Jake, one of the horses that pulls the trolley and wagon in Goldsboro.
Full SizeAs holiday trolley rides start up again in Goldsboro for the Christmas season, residents will line up for their turn to be pulled by two huge black horses. They will see the horses all shaved and prettied up and the trolley and wagon all shined up.
But they probably have no clue what it took to get to this point.
Terry Boykin Hogg and Ervin Wood do, though, because it's their horses that pull their trolley and wagon through the streets of Goldsboro.
The couple use four Percherons, 15-year-olds Joe and Jake and 13-year-olds Comet and Clyde for the trolley rides. Terry said she likes the Percherons because they are beautiful horses.
"A day or two in advance, I shave the horses, their mane, bottom eyelids, legs and feet and their nose because that's the place children are going to pet the most," Terry said.
It takes her about an hour to shave each horse.
The day of the trolley ride, Terry takes each horse to the wash pit in the barn and gives them a thorough washing.
"It has a drain in it and hot and cold water," she said. "I rinse them all over and use Dawn detergent and lather them all up. I do each horse in sections starting at the head, lathering and rinsing. You can't do the whole body because he'd start drying before you got through washing him. Then I rinse him off again."
Terry uses a squeegee to get the excess water off the horse then lets him air dry.
The harnesses that the horses wear for the trolley rides have to be maintained, too. Terry washes and rinses each then lets it dry.
Harnesses are fitted for the horses. So each harness has a horse's name on the wall above it. Sometimes Terry covers the harness with towels to keep it dry and keep the dust off of it.
And that's not all. The wagon and trolley have to be cleaned before the trolley rides. Terry rinses them off and towel dries them.
"There's a lot of work that goes into it," she said.
But the satisfaction Terry gets from seeing both children and adults on the trolley rides is totally worth it.
"When we pull up, the children go, 'Ohhh' and they just look at the horses," she said. "When they get off with their mom and dad or grandparents, they want to take pictures with the horses. A lot of children bring apples and carrots for them."
The Boykins have been doing the holiday trolley rides in Goldsboro since 1990.
"Goldsboro called my dad, Al Boykin, and asked him to do it," Terry said. "He could have said no, but if you knew my daddy, he loved every child, any child, and adults."
Terry's father was doing it by himself at first, but it got too big for just one person. So a friend began helping him.
"I would help daddy whenever I could," she said. "I was about 25 when I started helping.
"When daddy got sick in 2005 with cancer, I had to do it for him when he was taking treatments. He went into remission, then it happened again and we lost him in 2007."
Terry said she's been around horses since she was 6, and being 60 now, wouldn't know what to do without having one.
"This is my love," she said of the horses and trolley rides. "And I wanted to keep my daddy's legacy alive. This was his love, too."
Terry remembers one woman who used to bring her young children to the trolley rides when her father was operating it. Today, her children are grown and bring their children for a ride.
Terry's father had a trolley specially made for the rides in Goldsboro. It has runners on the sides to help people get up and down, especially the elderly.
"His goal, had he lived long enough, was to have a trolley made with seats on the side and you could push people up onto the trolley in their wheelchair and they could sit in the center," Terry said.
Terry's father used Belgian horses, but now Terry and Ervin use just the Percherons.
"Downtown Goldsboro Development Corp. deserves all the credit for the trolley rides," Terry said. "If it was not for them, we wouldn't be going. The children and city people who don't get to experience the country, this gives them the opportunity to get close to one of God's great creatures."
Terry said one of the last steps to getting everything ready for the trolley rides is putting the bridle on the horses.
"The horses know that it's the last step, too," she said. "They're like professionals. Once it's on, it's show time and they hold their heads up high. They'll become a different horse. They put on their best show."
They also know they'll get a treat before leaving the farm and once they return.
"Their favorite is a peanut butter cookie," Terry said. "They get them before we leave and when we get back. I was giving peanut butter cookies to the dogs and one day I gave it to the horses and they liked it."
Terry said it gives her a warm feeling in her heart to give people trolley rides.
"The smiles you put on anyone's face, any age, puts a smile and warm place in my heart," she said. "That's why I do it."
She recalls one year when a many who lived in New Bern called her wanting to propose to his girlfriend on the trolley ride.
"He didn't want her to know," Terry said. "I told him to be there for our last ride. When we got in front of the Paramount Theatre, we stopped and he got on his knee and asked her to marry him. That was very special that they wanted us to be part of that special moment for them. I cried."
The free trolley rides will take place Nov. 28 and Dec. 5, 12 and 19.